Superstar Shah Rukh Khan has thanked star Aamir Khan and his wife Kiran Rao for letting him stand in for them at the Satyamev Jayate Water Cup, organised by the Paani Foundation NGO.
Aamir revealed that Rao and himself were scheduled to attend the event held in Pune on Sunday, but couldn’t as they are down with swine flu. They addressed the gathering via Skype.
Shah Rukh shared a photograph of himself along with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
“Thanks Aamir Khan and Kiran for giving me the honour to stand in for you. Devendra Fadnavis your concern for farmers is touching,” Shah Rukh captioned the image.
“It’s a happy day but we are very sad... because after working so hard for a year, when the time came for us to celebrate with you, we got this illness. And the disease we are suffering from is one which spreads rapidly. It’s called H1N1 or swine flu in common usage,” said Aamir in a video call.
“The problem with swine flu is if I go anywhere, I will give it to other people. So we have been forced to stay at home for a week. And that is why we can’t be there with you and we’re very sad about it,” he added.
Smriti Kiran, creative director of MAMI, was present at the event with Anupama Chopra as well.
Among other guests at the event were Nita Ambani, Siddharth Roy Kapur, Ashutosh Gowariker, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Ram Madhvani and Nagraj Manjule.
Maharashtra is among the worst-hit Indian states by swine flu, which has claimed the lives of over 300 people since January, including almost 150 during the current monsoon.
Among the affected regions are Mumbai, Thane, Pune and Nashik where many patients are also currently under treatment in various hospitals.
